Diagnostics & Imaging Week articles from December 2002

Diagnostics & Imaging Week archives from December 2002

Optimism for black men, women osteoporosis & cancer sufferers. (New hope, new company, new products at RSNA).
December 5, 2002... CHICAGO, Illinois -- While some of the opening presentations at this year's annual meeting of the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA; Oak Brook, Illinois) focused on experimental uses of imaging and radiological technologies, those...

IBM Life Sciences breaks into Chicago's big imaging party. (New hope, new company, new products at RSNA).
December 5, 2002... CHICAGO, Illinois -- "It takes a village..." begins a well-known child-rearing mantra. And the corollary for startup companies could be, "It takes lots of partners..." IBM Life Sciences (Somers, New York) this week crashed the big...

Amersham developing gene microscope for cell changes. (Report from Europe).
December 5, 2002... Amersham (Little Chalfont, UK) has linked with the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center (New York) to develop a microscope system that will be able to detect minute changes in human cells grown in vitro, with the aim of identifying all the...

Quest, Unilab propose asset sell-off as deadlock solution. (Deals roundup).
December 5, 2002... Rather than call off their lengthy merger engagement, potential lab sector mates Quest Diagnostics (Teterboro, New Jersey) and Unilab (Tarzana, California) unveiled what they hope will be a solution to the Federal Trade Commission's (FTC)...

LabConnect, MTC collaborate on CRO consortium program. (Agreements).
December 5, 2002... LabConnect (Columbia, Maryland), a laboratory services company specializing in serving the clinical trial industry, has signed a three-year agreement with Medical Therapeutics Consultants (MTC), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Medifacts...

NetImpact licenses technology for rapid `anywhere' test kits.
December 5, 2002... NetImpact Holdings (Tecula, California), a technology transfer company, has obtained an exclusive license to technology to create kits for rapid diagnosis of disease based on samples as small as a drop of blood or saliva. NetImpact...

Given Imaging in action against former employee, two firms. (Court report).
December 5, 2002... Given Imaging (Yokneam, Israel) said it has brought a legal action against former employee, Doron Adler, and two companies which he founded--CByond Inc. and CByond Ltd.--charging improper use and filing of patent applications. Given is seeking...

US Labs raises $13 million to fund its continued growth. (Financings roundup).
December 5, 2002... US Labs (Irvine, California), a provider of cancer diagnostic services, said it has completed equity financing of $13 million to fund its continued growth. The financing was lead by existing investors ABS Capital Partners and Highland...

Mammography may be new key for detecting heart disease.
December 5, 2002... CHICAGO, Illinois -- Research conducted at the Mayo Clinic (Rochester, Minnesota) and reported this week at the annual meeting of the Radiological Society of North America suggests a whole new realm for mammography. The study reports that...

Exhibit floor a busy place as companies roll out new goods. (RSNA Notebook).
December 5, 2002... A Diagnostic & Imaging Wek Staff Report CHICAGO, Illinois -- The largest U.S. medical conference also is the venue for what annually seems to be the largest number of product introductions. Companies use the seemingly endless sprawl of...

Alliance Imaging. (People in Places).
December 5, 2002... Paul Viviano has been named president and chief operating officer of Alliance Imaging (Anaheim, California), effective Jan. 1. It is expected that he will be appointed to the Alliance Imaging board of directors effective that same date. Viviano...

Bio-Rad Laboratories. (People in Places).
December 5, 2002... Christine Tsingos has been appointed chief financial officer of Bio-Rad Laboratories (Hercules, California), a manufacturer of life science research products and clinical diagnostics. Tsingos comes to Bio-Rad from Attest Systems, where she...

Diametrics Medical. (People in Places).
December 5, 2002... David Kaysen was named president and CEO of biometrics Medical (St. Paul, Minnesota), assuming the CEO duties currently being fulfilled on an interim basis by Chairman Andre de Bruin. Kaysen also has been elected to the company's board. Kaysen...

Epix Medical. (People in Places).
December 5, 2002... Peyton Marshall, PhD, has been appointed senior vice president, Finance and administration, and chief financial officer of Epix Medical (Cambridge, Massachusetts), a developer of specialty pharmaceuticals for magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)....

Axis-Shield. (Product Briefs).
December 5, 2002... Axis-Shield (Dundee, UK) reported the findings of a new study published in the Nov. 23 issue of the British Medical Journal. David Wald, MD, and colleagues from Southampton General and St. Bartholomew's hospitals have produced strong evidence...

Bracco. (Product Briefs).
December 5, 2002... Bracco (Princeton, New Jersey), a developer of diagnostic imaging solutions, said it has received an "approvable" letter from the FDA for its newest imaging agent, MultiHance. MultiHance (gadobenate dimeglumine) is a paramagnetic positive...

Critical Therapeutics. (Product Briefs).
December 5, 2002... Critical Therapeutics (CTI; Cambridge, Massachusetts) has been awarded three U.S. patents covering methods to diagnose, predict the severity of and treat serious inflammatory diseases including sepsis. The patents relate to a protein within the...

DeJarnette Research Systems. (Product Briefs).
December 5, 2002... DeJarnette Research Systems (Towson, Maryland) has been awarded a U.S. patent for Image Shift, a feature of its ImageShare CR Computed Radiography QC station. The QC station is used with computed radiography devices, providing tools for...

LifePoint. (Product Briefs).
December 5, 2002... LifePoint (Ontario, California), which focuses on non-invasive drug and alcohol diagnostic technologies and solutions, has received approval from the U. S. Patent and Trademark Office for a filing titled "Composition and Methods for Synthesis...

MagView Systems (Silver Spring, Maryland), a provider of software solutions for mammography reporting, tracking, and monitoring information, and R2 Technology (Sunnyvale, California), which focuses on computer-aided detection (CAD), said they have entered into a development agreement involving R2's CAD technology, designed to assist radiologists in the early detection of breast cancer. (Product Briefs).
December 5, 2002... MagView Systems (Silver Spring, Maryland), a provider of software solutions for mammography reporting, tracking, and monitoring information, and R2 Technology (Sunnyvale, California), which focuses on computer-aided detection (CAD), said they...

Ameripath in $839.4M merger; Novitron buys Elan Diag unit. (Deals roundup).
December 12, 2002... A Diagnostics & Imaging Week Staff Report Diagnostic titan AmeriPath (Riviera Beach, Florida), a national provider of cancer diagnostics, genomic and related information services, has signed an agreement to merge with Amy Acquisition Corp.,...

New testing developments focus on chronic disease. (San Diego Conference, Part 1 of 3).
December 12, 2002... Diagnostics & Imaging Week Contributing Writer SAN DIEGO, California -- The total market at the provider level for molecular diagnostic testing services offered by hospital and reference labs is estimated at $2.5 billion to $3.1 billion in...

Sector `cheaper, faster, brighter, better,' but also short of RTs. (Radiological Society of North America).
December 12, 2002... Diagnostics & Imaging Week Managing Editor CHICAGO, Illinois -- This year's annual meeting of the Radiological Society of North America (Oak Brook, Illinois) recovered nicely from the 9/11-induced attendee slump of last year, when total...

Survey says personalized medicine to boost healthcare.
December 12, 2002... Diagnostics & Imaging Week Staff Writer More than eight out of l0 physicians and consumers said they believe personalized medicine will have a positive impact on the future of healthcare, according to a Harris Interactive survey...

Molecular diagnostics to speed personalized medicine. (Report from Europe).
December 12, 2002... Diagnostics & Imaging Week Correspondent Molecular diagnostics, together with pharmacogenomics and pharmacogenetics will form the basis of personalized medicine which is forecast to be established by the year 2010, according to projections...

NMR test for heart disease might have wide applicability. (From the Lab).
December 12, 2002... Diagnostics & Imaging Week Correspondent LONDON -- Population screening for cardiovascular disease could be available within just a few years if the promise of a new test holds true. The test, which involves reading the nuclear...

BioForce receives DoD award for breast cancer research. (Grants/contract news).
December 12, 2002... A Diagnostics & Imaging Week Staff Report Bioforce Nanosciences (Ames, Iowa), a developer of nanoarray biomolecular analysis systems, reported receiving a Department of Defense grant, the amount unstated, for breast cancer research...

Medical imaging and software startup Algotec raises $5M. (Financings roundup).
December 12, 2002... A Diagnostics & Imaging Week Staff Report Medical imaging IT start-up Algotec (Raanana, Israel) reported raising $5 million to $10 million from primary investors, Star Ventures Enterprises and JAFCO. Algotec develops and markets software to...

Mammography said to be `best we have now,' but options loom. (Radioloqical Society of North America).
December 12, 2002... Diagnostics & Imaging Week Managing Editor CHICAGO, Illinois -- Except for 19th century "bleeding" or, in the modern age, the early overdosing with radiation, there may be no greater "standard of care" controversy than that surrounding the...

LabOne buys Central Plains Labs.
December 12, 2002... LabOne (Lenexa, Kansas) has acquired Central Plains Laboratories (Hays, Kansas) from Hays Medical Center (also Hays) and Park City Solutions (Midway, Utah) for $12.1 million and contingent consideration based on EBITDA contribution over the...

Calypte Biomedical. (People in Places).
December 12, 2002... * Odell Mays has been named key account manager for the sales organization of Calypte Biomedical (Alameda, California). Mays previously worked for Community Access, a division of Nelson Communications. Calypte Biomedical is a developer of...

Cantel Medical. (People in Places).
December 12, 2002... * Seth Segel has been named senior vice president-corporate development at Cantel Medical (Little Falls, New Jersey). Segel has experience in mergers and acquisitions as a senior associate at Broadview International, a boutique investment bank,...

ChromaVision Medical Systems. (People in Places).
December 12, 2002... * Stephen Dixon has been appointed executive vice president and chief financial officer of ChromaVision Medical Systems (San Juan Capistrano, California). He replaces Kevin O'Boyle, who resigned to pursue other business interests. Dixon...

BD Biosciences. (Product Briefs).
December 12, 2002... * BD Biosciences (San Jose, California), a business of BD (Franklin Lakes, New Jersey), has launched the RD FACSAria cell sorter, an instrument platform that combines "high-performance cell sorting with ease of use and a lower total cost of...

Cambridge Heart. (Product Briefs).
December 12, 2002... * Cambridge Heart (Bedford, Massachusetts), which bills itself as the developer of the only FDA-cleared non-invasive test for assessing an individual's risk of sudden cardiac death (SCD), said it will launch, early next year, a clinical study...

Dade Behring. (Product Briefs).
December 12, 2002... * Dade Behring (Deerfield, Illinois) said that testing blood for the presence of C-reactive protein, in conjunction with cholesterol testing, could be an important means of identifying persons at risk of developing heart disease, according to a...

ILEX Oncology (San Antonio, Texas) has signed the first of several pending sub-licensing agreements intended to rapidly commercialize Campath-related diagnostic tests worldwide. (Product Briefs).
December 12, 2002... * ILEX Oncology (San Antonio, Texas) has signed the first of several pending sub-licensing agreements intended to rapidly commercialize Campath-related diagnostic tests worldwide. The firm will sublicense to Ventana Medical Systems (Tucson,...

MicroSignal. (Product Briefs).
December 12, 2002... MicroSignal (Canonsburg, Pennsylvania) has introduced new features for its SLICES system, which it said can be used with all of today's DICOM-compliant magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) systems, as well as a variety of older non-DICOM MRI...

Parallax Medical. (Product Briefs).
December 12, 2002... * Parallax Medical (Scotts Valley, California) reported limited market release of its Core-Assure Bone and Vertebral Body Biopsy Kit. It sad the kit enables improved core tissue sample quality and capture with maintained access to the vertebral...

Panel narrowly turns down CTI's laser breast imager.(Computerized Thermal Imaging)
December 19, 2002... Diagnostics & Imaging Week Washington Editor GAITHERSBURG, Maryland--The deciding vote tipping the balance of an evenly-split FDA advisory panel came from the panel chair last week. The result: a recommendation not to approve a breast...

Advances seen in sequencing, SNP detection technology. (San Diego Conference, Part 2 of 3).(Single Nucleotide Polymorphism)
December 19, 2002... Diagnostics & Imaging Week Contributing Writer SAN DIEGO, California -- A number of new analytical technologies were described at last month's San Diego Conference, sponsored by the American Association for Clinical Chemistry (Washington),...

Siemens MRI software enables translating 2-D to 3-D images. (Report from Europe).(Siemens Medical Solutions)(magnetic resonance imaging)
December 19, 2002... Diagnostics & Imaging Week Correspondent The Care Bolus software package from Siemens Medical Solutions (Erlangen, Germany) allows radiologists to change from 2-D to 3-D image acquisition during a scan. When used with a contrast agent in,...

Blood products testing likely to change in coming years.
December 19, 2002... Diagnostics & Imaging Week Washington Editor GAITHERSBURG, Maryland -- An FDA advisory panel recently discussed the logistics of additional testing to whole blood and source plasma for viruses knowing that the implementation--and the...

Pelikan Technologies adds $14m via Series C financing round. (Financings roundup).(various articles on the finance and investments of the medical instruments and pharmaceutical industries)
December 19, 2002... A Diagnostics & Imaging Week Staff Report Pelikan Technologies (Palo Alto, California), a developer of systems for hand-held diagnostics, reported completion of a $14 million Series C preferred stock financing round. HBM BioVentures (Baar,...

NewBridge Capital buys assets of BodyScan Imaging group. (Deals roundup).(various articles on acquisitions in the medical equipment industry)
December 19, 2002... A Diagnostics & Imaging Week Staff Report NewBridge Capital (Newport Beach, California) has agreed to purchase the assets and business interests of BodyScan Imaging, Cardiac Imaging and the diagnostic management of BodyScan's affiliate...

Abbott, Tecan to collaborate on sample-preparation system. (Agreements).(Abbott Laboratories)(Tecan Group Ltd.)
December 19, 2002... A Diagnostics & Imaging Week Staff Report Abbott Laboratories (Abbott Park, Illinois) and Tecan (Zurich, Switzerland) reported a long-term supply agreement for the development and commercialization of an automated sample preparation system...

Radiometer reports renewal of contract with Novation. (Grants/contract news).(Radiometer America, Novation Inc.)(Brief Article)
December 19, 2002... A Diagnostics & Imaging Week Staff Report Radiometer America (Westlake, Ohio) reported the renewal for a second year of its blood gas contract with Novation (Irving, Texas), the supply chain management company for University HealthSystem...

Biotechnology Industry Organization. (People In Places).(director of communications selected)(Brief Article)
December 19, 2002... * Kathy Stover has been named director of communications for the Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO; Washington). Previously, Stover was a senior managing editor at Thompson Publishing Group. BIO represents more than 1,000 biotechnology...

Charles River Laboratories International. (People In Places).(vice president selected)(Brief Article)
December 19, 2002... * Real Renaud has been promoted to the newly created position of executive vice president and general manager, worldwide research model products and services, for Charles River Laboratories International (Wilmington, Massachusetts). In addition...

Image Technology Laboratories. (People In Places).(marketing director selected)(Brief Article)
December 19, 2002... Don Tetrault has been appointed director of marketing and sales for Image Technology Laboratories (ITL; Kingston, New York). Tetrault, in his previous managerial position at Siemens Medical Systems, was responsible for developing that firm's...

PDI. (People In Places).(new marketing executes at PDI Inc.)(Brief Article)
December 19, 2002... * PDI (Upper Saddle River, New Jersey) reported new executive promotions and additions. Lloyd Fishman has been promoted from vice president and general manager of the company's medical devices and diagnostics business to executive vice...

Sigma-Aldrich. (People In Places).(Sigma-Aldrich Corp.)(Brief Article)
December 19, 2002... * Sigma-Aldrich (St. Louis, Missouri) has reported several changes in responsibilities among its executive staff. Frank Wicks, previously president of the company's Scientific Research division, becomes president of the Fine Chemicals division;...

Biofield (Atlanta, Georgia), developer of the Biofield Diagnostic System (BDS), a non-invasive system to deliver objective results that may be helpful in the detection of epithelial cancers, including breast cancer, reported two scientific poster presentations at the 25th International Breast Cancer Symposium in San Antonio, Texas. (Product Briefs).(Brief Article)
December 19, 2002... * Biofield (Atlanta, Georgia), developer of the Biofield Diagnostic System (BDS), a non-invasive system to deliver objective results that may be helpful in the detection of epithelial cancers, including breast cancer, reported two scientific...

Calypte Biomedical (Alameda, California) said it has executed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the Safe Blood for Africa Foundation, giving it exclusive rights to market and distribute Calypte's urine-based HIV-1 antibody tests in sub-Saharan Africa as a blood donor pre-screening tool. (Product Briefs).(Calpyte Biomedical Corp.)(Brief Article)
December 19, 2002... * Calypte Biomedical (Alameda, California) said it has executed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the Safe Blood for Africa Foundation, giving it exclusive rights to market and distribute Calypte's urine-based HIV-1 antibody tests in...

Celera Diagnostics (Alameda, California) received marketing approval from the FDA for its ViroSeq HIV-1 genotyping system as an in vitro diagnostic product. (Product Briefs).(Brief Article)
December 19, 2002... * Celera Diagnostics (Alameda, California) received marketing approval from the FDA for its ViroSeq HIV-1 genotyping system as an in vitro diagnostic product. The company said the system would be manufactured by Celera Diagnostics and...

Dolphin Medical (Hawthorne, California), a majority-owned subsidiary of OSI Systems (Atlanta, Georgia) reported that its new Dolphin Voyager has received 510(k) approval from the FDA. (Product Briefs).(OSI Systems Inc.)(Brief Article)
December 19, 2002... * Dolphin Medical (Hawthorne, California), a majority-owned subsidiary of OSI Systems (Atlanta, Georgia) reported that its new Dolphin Voyager has received 510(k) approval from the FDA. The Dolphin Voyager is a pulse oximetry engine designed in...

EP MedSystems. (Product Briefs).(EP MedSystems Inc. markets products in Europe)(Brief Article)
December 19, 2002... * EP MedSystems (West Berlin, New Jersey) said it intends to expand the market for its Alert product platform with the submission of the Alert CS/RA product dossier to a European notified body for regulatory approval. Approval is sought to...

PerkinElmer. (Product Briefs).(Perkin-Elmer Corp.)(Brief Article)
December 19, 2002... * PerkinElmer (Boston, Massachusetts), a provider of d discovery, life science research, laboratory tools and genetic screening solutions, reported the availability of GAD65 Ab and IA-2 Ab autoantibody kits for monitoring individuals at risk of...

Molecular tests boost capability for early disease detection. (San Diego Conference, Part 3 of 3).
December 26, 2002... Molecular diagnostics has proven particularly useful in allowing disease to be detected with greater sensitivity, a capability that translates to earlier detection of diseases such as cancer and infectious disease. Molecular testing...

Zymark's new interface makes Twister II lab robot easier to use.(Zymark Corp.)
December 26, 2002... Zymark (Hopkinton, Massachusetts) has introduced a software interface, iLink, that it says will make its Twister II robot even easier to use in laboratories. "Twister II is a laboratory robot that moves pieces called microtiter plates,"...

HemoCue launches albumin test as part of its urine-based line. (Report from Europe).(Brief Article)
December 26, 2002... Best known for its very successful whole-blood testing systems, HemoCue (Angelholm, Sweden) first expanded into urine tests two years ago with a low hemoglobin test system to provide monitoring for blood loss in urine, irrigation solutions...

Myriad's predictive medicine, therapy push go hand in hand.(Myriad Genetics Inc.)
December 26, 2002... The field of predictive medicine, one subsector in which the largely faded near-term promise of genomics maintains its color, is just where Myriad Genetics (Salt Lake City, Utah) has wanted to be from the start--but not the only place. ...

MDS in $311M debt placement; QuickMedx raises $2.7 million. (Financings roundup).(MDS Laboratories)
December 26, 2002... MDS (Toronto, Ontario) said it has closed a private debt placement. The debt placement totals about $311 million and has terms ranging from five to 12 years. The private placement is comprised of five series of guaranteed senior unsecured...

Roche Holding AG (Basel, Switzerland) and Innogenetics NV (Brussels, Belgium) launched a first series of new microbiology tests as part of their partnership. (Product Briefs).(Brief Article)
December 26, 2002... Roche Holding AG (Basel, Switzerland) and Innogenetics NV (Brussels, Belgium) launched a first series of new microbiology tests as part of their partnership. The kits can be used to rapidly detect human pathogens from Pseudomonas a ruginosa,...

Rubicon Genomics. (Product Briefs).(Rubicon Genomics Inc.)(Brief Article)
December 26, 2002... Rubicon Genomics (Ann Arbor, Michigan) has launched its service business using its OmniPlex whole genome amplification (WGA) technology. Rubicon's in vitro method to convert small amounts of genomic DNA into OmniPlex PCR-amplifiable libraries...

SpectRx (Norcross, Georgia) said its SimpleChoice diabetes subsidiary will market the first Level 1-certified over-the-counter (OTC) fingerstick hemoglobin A1c (glycohemoglobin) test for people with diabetes. (Product Briefs).(SpectRx Inc.)(Brief Article)
December 26, 2002... SpectRx (Norcross, Georgia) said its SimpleChoice diabetes subsidiary will market the first Level 1-certified over-the-counter (OTC) fingerstick hemoglobin A1c (glycohemoglobin) test for people with diabetes. Level 1 certification means the...

Cytogen. (People in Places).(chief executive of Cytogen Corp. resigns)(Brief Article)
December 26, 2002... Cytogen (Princeton, New Jersey) reported several changes within its senior management team. H. Joseph Reiser, PhD, has resigned as president and CEO, effective immediately, for personal reasons, the company said. He will continue to serve as a...

US Labs. (People in Places).(US Labs Inc. hires new chief financial officer)(Brief Article)
December 26, 2002... Steven Pierce has been named CFO of US Labs (Irvine, California). Pierce most recently was executive vice president and chief financial officer for American Medical Laboratories. US LABS provides screening, diagnostic and prognostic cancer...